Banner mounting construction



y 1963 E. FREY ETAL 3,089,268

BANNER MOUNTING CONSTRUCTION 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 9, 1.961

l6 INVENTORS 1 Edward a BY ELI/bow J.

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6 M, Mjww W ATTORNEYS May 14, 1963 E. FREY ET Al. 3,089,268

BANNER MOUNTING CONSTRUCTION Filed March 9, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 III "MIMI, III HMHWHIIHM uvvmroxs EdummLFrqy 5 BY ElliottJKies ATTORNEYS 3,089,268 BANNER MOUNTING CONSTRUCTION Edward Frey, Akron, and Elliott J. Kies, Massillon, Ohio,

assignors to The Massillon-Cleveland-Akron Sign Comparry, Massillon, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Mar. 9, 1961, Ser. No. 94,484 1 Claim. (Cl. 40-428) This invention relates to flexible banners or signs made of fabric or other sheetlike material. More particular- 1y, it involves a flexible banner, the useful life of which is prolonged by reinforcing elements that are resistant to flapping or whipping caused by wind.

Some types of banner mounting constructions having flexible banners composed of fabric or other sheetlike material are preferably mounted in or in conjunction with a support frame or other auxiliary means for holding the banner tautly in place. Such banner constructions are used where surrounding appurtenances may be used for attaching the banner and/ or its mounting means in place.

It is frequently desirable to mount an advertising banner or sign in a conspicuous location where it cannot escape being noticed a passerby. However, it is not expedient to provide a rigid frame or other means for securing the banner tautly in place because of interference with the ordinary movement of traflic, pedestrians, etc. For example, many oil companies have adopted banners as advertising media that are mounted on upright standards on filling station premises. Not all filling stations, however, are provided with standards in a conspicuous place.

Some stations are provided with a horizontal canopy or portico extending over the surface area, such as the gasoline pumps, and under which vehicles requiring service must pass. With such a permanent construction, it is desirable to hang a banner or sign on the underside of the portico where it is free to hang without the aid of additional means for securing the lower edge or corners in place. Such a sign or banner is preferably devoid of support structure except from its upper edge because of the movement of vehicles and pedestrians below it. In addition, such a sign must not limit the movement of any high vehicles such as a truck which could ordinarily pass under the portico. Indeed, it must be free to yield to the movement of any vehicle where such movement would otherwise be limited or stymied.

It has been found that a banner may be provided with sufiicient built-in reinforcing means to hold the banner vertical under normal wind conditions but which is free to yield to the movement of any rigid structure such as a high truck. The means for mounting such a sign provides a problem because most permanent canopies or porticos used in filling stations are constructed of metal and are therefore not designed for subsequent attachment of temporary advertising media such as banners or signs composed of cloth, fabric, or other sheetlike material. Accordingly, for the purpose of attaching the upper edge of such a banner to the portico, the latter must be provided with auxiliary attaching means which includes means for readily mounting and dismounting a flexible banner or sign.

Accordingly, it is a general object of this invention to provide .a banner mounting construction which is devoid tes Patent of auxiliary mounting means apart from the means provided along one upper edge of the banner.

It is another object of this invention to provide a banner mounting construction which is pivotally attached along its upper edge to the undersurface of a canopy or portico and which is provided with banenr stiffening means built into opposite ends to hold the banner in a sheetlike plane under ordinary wind conditions.

It is another object of this invention to provide a banner mounting construction in which the banner is secured only at its upper edge and which is free to yield to the movement of high vehicles passing thereunder when necessary.

Finally, it is an object of this invention to provide a banner mounting construction which hangs freely from one edge and with the auxiliary mounting means securing the other edge, ends or corners in place and which is economical to manufacture, easy to mount and dismount, and which requires a minimum amount of maintenance and repair.

These and other objects apparent to those skilled in the art from the following description and claim may be obtained, the stated results achieved, and the described difficulties overcome by the discoveries, principles, apparatus, parts, elements, combinations, and subcombinations which comprise the present invention, the nature of which is set forth in the following general statement, preferred embodiments of whichillustrative of the best modes in which applicants have contemplated applying the principles-are set forth in the following description and shown in the drawings, and which are particularly and distinctly pointed out and set forth in the appended claim forming part hereof.

The present invention may be described in general terms as comprising a horizontal banner construction for mounting on a horizontal portico including an elongated banner composed of flexible material and having upper and lower elongated hemmed edge portions and having vertical hemmed end portions, means for reinforcing the flexible material of the banner including an elongated flexible hose in each end hem portion, means for mounting the banner to the undersurface of a portico including an L-shaped rod at each upper end of the banner having a horizontal portion pivotally mounted on the portico and having a vertical portion extending downwardly into the corresponding end hem portion and the flexible hose therein, and said means including a plurality of spaced clips extending between and attached to the upper edge of the banner and the portico.

Referring to the drawings forming a part hereof in which the preferred embodiment is shown by way of example:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a flexible banner or sign mounted at its upper edge to the undersurface of a portico of a service station;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary elevational view, partly in section, showing the manner in which the banner or sign is constructed and mounted in place;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing another manner in which the banner may be mounted; and

FIG. 4 is a perspective View showing the manner in which the banner or sign may yield to the movement of a truck when necessary.

Similar numer-als refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

In the drawings, a banner or sign is generally indicated at 1 and is mounted along its upper edge to the undersurface of a portico or canopy 2 which extends outwardly from a filling station 3. Inasmuch as the banner is an elongated member which must be horizontally displayed, it requires a horizontally extending member of a length at least equal to that of the banner. The location of the banner 1 on the portico 2, as shown in FIG. 1, provides an excellent position for short term advertising campaigns to which temporary advertising media such as the banner 1 are particularly adapted.

The banner 1 is a sheetlike member composed of flexible material such as fabric which includes mean-s 4 for hanging the banner in place as well as means generally indicated at 5 for reinforcing the banner along its opposite ends. By such means the sheetlike flexible banner 1 may be secured and maintained in place for the purpose of presenting advertising media in a prominent location without disturbing the arrival and departure of customers at the filling station 3. The means 4 and 5 provide the banner 1 with readily mounting and dismounting members and at the same time serve to maintain the banner upright in a free hanging position relatively undisturbed by normal wind conditions. At the same time the means permits the banner 1 to yield to the movement of relatively high vehicles such as trucks (FIG. 4) and permits the banner to return subsequently to its normal free hanging position.

The hanging means 4 (FIG. 2) includes an elongated bar 6, a pair of L-shaped hangers 7, as well as connecting clips 8. The bar 6 is an elongated member preferably composed of metal which is secured to the canopy by screws 9. As shown in FIG. 2, the bar 6 is provided with spaced ears or outturned portions 10 and 11 extending from the surface of the bar. The hanging means 4 for each banner 1 includes a pair of hangers 7, one at each end of the banner, as shown in FIG. 2, for the upper left corner of the banner. In addition, each banner 1 is provided with upper and lower edge hem portions 12 and 13, as well as end hem portions such as a hem portion 14, as shown in the left end of the banner 1. The hem portions 12, 13, and 14 help to reinforce the sheetlike flexible banner 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, additional reinforcement means are also provided to hold the banner vertical under normal wind conditions and to prevent it from becoming distorted from the flat rectangular position. The means include an elongated member 15 in the hem 14 as well as an elongated member 16 in the hem 13. The member 15 is composed of a relatively heavy flexible material such as rubber hosing and the member 16 is composed of a flexible material such as rope and is preferably secured in the hem 13 by stitching 17. I Both members 15 and 16 are coextensive with the length of their corresponding hems and the hem (not shown) at the right end of the banner 1 is similar to the hem 14 and is likewise provided with a reinforcing hosing similar to the elongated member 15.

In addition, the lower end portion of the hanger 7 is disposed in the upper end portion of the member 15, as shown in FIG. 2, in tight-fitting engagement. Thus the L-shaped hanger 7, the upper horizontal portion of which extends through aligned apertures in the closely spaced cars 10, is free to turn in the ears when the banner 1 yields to action of external forces such as the wind, etc. By connecting the hosing 15 and the hanger 7 together, the member is reinforced at its upper end and maintained in a rigid condition due to the hanger disposed therein. However, the rotatability of the hanger 7 in the cars 10 does not unreasonably limit the movement of the flexible banner 1.

The hanging means 4 which includes the spaced connecting clips 8 also includes grommets 18 which "are disposed at intervals along the upper hem portion 12 equal to the spacing between the ears 11 so that the clips 8 extend between and through the openings in the corresponding cars 11 and grommets 18, as shown in FIG. 2. The particular clip 8a is preferably disposed between the particular grommet 18a and the horizontal portion of the hanger 7 in order to hold the left end portion of the banner 1 in place and prevent its sagging.

Moreover, each hanger 7 is provided with means 19, such as a cotter pin, for holding it in place in the cars 10 and to prevent its slipping out of place.

The hanging means for the banner 1 also includes the elongated bar 6 which is mounted on the undersurface of the canopy 2. Where it is not feasible to provide such a bar, a different hanging means 4 may be provided as shown in FIG. 3. Such hanging means includes an elon gated strip 20 of rigid material such as wood, which is secured to the undersurface of the canopy 2 which may be composed of metal. In addition, spaced eyes 21 and 22 are disposed at intervals along the strip as shown in FIG. 3 so that the horizontal portion of the hanger 7 is disposed between a closely spaced pair of the eyes 21. The hanger 7 is retained in place in the eyes 21 by the cotter pin 19.

Finally, the eyes 22, which are spaced at intervals equal to the spacing of the grommets 18, are used with the clips 8 to hold the banner 1 horizontally in place and to prevent its sagging out of the horizontal position. The banner 1, as shown in FIG. 3, is similar in structure and composition to the banner of FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the banner 1 is attached to the canopy 2 in the manner shown and described, it normally hangs in a flat position for displaying the advertising media thereon. However, being composed of a flexible material, the banner 1 is also free to yield, as shown in FIG. 4, to forces of extraneous conditions such as a strong wind or a high vehicle such as a truck 23. Of course, after the truck 23 passes from under the canopy 2, the banner 1 returns to normal position as shown in FIG. 1.

The device of the foregoing banner mounting construction provides a flexible banner which is adapted for horizontal mounting on a permanent structure such as a canopy or portico in a prominent position where it can be readily seen. The banner, being composed of a flexible fabric material, includes hanging means by which the upper edge is easily secured in place and by which it may be readily dismounted when necessary.

Although the fabric banner is provided with reinforcing means in order to maintain it in a vertical plane under normal wind conditions, the banner is also readily yieldable to the normal movement of high vehicles. Inasmuch as no additional means such as guy ropes are necessary to hold the banner down in a flat plane, the banner is useful in places where banners of prior construction could not be considered.

In the foregoing description certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness and understanding, but no unnecessary limitations have been implied therefrom as such words are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadly construed.

Moreover, the embodiment of the improved construction illustrated and described herein is by way of ex ample and the scope of the present invention is not limited to the exact construction shown.

Having now described the invention, construction, operation and use of a preferred embodiment thereof and the advantageous, new and useful results obtained thereby; the new and useful banner mounting construction and reasonable mechanical equivalents thereof obvious to those skilled in the art are set forth in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A horizontal banner construction for mounting on a horizontal portico including an elongated banner composed of flexible material and having upper and lower elongated hemmed edge portions and having vertical hemmed end portions, means for reinforcing the flexible material of the banner including an elongated reinforcing flexible hose in and coextensive with each end hem portion, means for mounting the banner to the undersurface of a portico including an L-shaped rod at each upper end of the banner including a horizontal portion pivotally mounted on a portico and including a vertical portion extending downwardly into the corresponding end hem portion, the upper end of the flexible hose extending telescopically over the lower end portion of the L-shaped rod, and said means including a plurality of spaced clips extending between and attached to the upper edge of the banner and a portico, whereby the hose reinforces the banner in a free-hanging position against normal wind forces and yields with the banner when the banner is moved out of a. free-hanging position by a moving object passing under and contacting the banner.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,069,776 Foulis Aug. 12, 1913 1,195,224 Hoffman Aug. 22, 1916 2,764,122 Irvin Sept. 25, 1956 

